


Hit the Heartbrakes

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, side Ziam, there isn't that much really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-08 05:10:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1927839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With his best friend and eternal roommate Zayn getting married and abandoning him, Louis has planned the world's biggest stag do to send him off into married life – a week in Thailand showing him all the things he's going to be missing when he becomes a married man. But Zayn has neglected to mention that Louis' ex and their old uni friend Paddy will be coming – along with his successful, rich new boyfriend. Determined not to let Paddy ruin his fun once again, he enlists the help of an attractive backpacker by the name of Harry, who good-naturedly agrees to go along with pretending he's Louis' boyfriend for the week. A week of sun, sea, booze and no-strings-attached sex beckons, but as always, things don't go quite as planned...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hit the Heartbrakes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LittleLostPieces](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleLostPieces/gifts).



> First of all I have to apologise, my idea for this fic was too big for the amount of time I had to write it...it could easily have been 30k but I had to write a condensed version! I very much enjoyed writing it though, even if I wanted to add so so much more. :)
> 
> title from the song by Black Kids.

_Airports_ , Louis thought scathingly. Who had invented them? Little tin cans of people in varying stages of panic and distress, made even worse by the fact it was a Saturday morning. In July. During the busiest time of the entire year.

Whose fabulous idea had this been again?

Oh, that was right. _His._

"Are you alive?" Louis asked, poking Zayn with his index finger. Zayn, who was slumped over in Liam's lap, didn't respond. "Is he alive? Liam? Is he breathing?"

"Fuck off, Louis," Liam grunted, his cap pulled down over his face, arms folded over his chest. Next to him a baby was crying, red-faced and hysterical, his mother bouncing him desperately on her lap. The departure lounge was full to the brim of children – screaming children, tearful children, sleeping children, excitable children, to name a few – and all forms of harassed-looking parents.

"Rude," Louis said, shifting in his seat and dislodging Niall, who'd been dozing on his shoulder. He was itching to get up and do something. "I'm bored. Let's play a game."

"I've been up since six a.m. Let's not," Niall groaned. Louis frowned. This was unusual. First Liam, then Niall turning against him? Zayn was to be expected, but this – this _hurt_.

"I haven't been to bed at _all,_ and do you see me passing out now? No! Now pull yerself together, mate, and-"

"Because you didn't actually go to bed, _mate_ , just watched American Pie stupidly loudly in our room while I was trying to sleep, you're feeling so perky 'cos your hangover hasn't hit yet, _and_ you were so smashed you're still fucking drunk," Liam muttered. Louis considered this through the slight pink haze of the last shot of vodka he'd had several hours ago, and came up with the answer that yes, this was probably technically correct. He'd had good intentions. He knew Zayn hated flying, and that such a long flight was going to be trouble, and would all be solved by a few pre-flight drinks. Then a few more. Then his favourite gay bar in Soho.

"I'm not drunk," Louis said finally, aware the silence had stretched on just a little too long while his thoughts were tripping over themselves. _Hmm. Still a lot drunk, maybe_. "I'm just...excited. Merry. _Happy go lucky._ "

"I hate you," Zayn said finally, stirring from the sambucca-induced coma he'd been in since they'd stumbled back to the Travelodge at five in the morning. "I'm going to vomit on you at some point during this flight and you're going to _completely_ deserve it."

"Unlikely," Louis snorted, pins and needles buzzing in the tips of his fingers, and finally got up out of his seat. "I'm going for a browse in duty free. Neil, accompany me?"

"I know you packed that silver dildo in your suitcase. Go fuck yourself with it," he grunted, sliding into Louis' vacated seat. Louis huffed. Some Irishman he was. And as _if_ he could go and get the dildo, since his case was presumably on a conveyor belt somewhere on the way to the aeroplane by now.

"Fine. Be terrible friends," he said and, slightly unsteadily, headed off to Duty Free.

This seemed like a bad idea approximately five minutes in, when he'd already forgotten which gate his friends were queuing outside of, and he realised he'd left his money behind. Never one easy to admit to defeat, Louis decided to soldier on, browsing thoughtfully through designer clothes he couldn't afford even without VAT, looking longingly at all the cigs and booze he _could_ have bought, and, while cooling off his inexplicably rising temperature – _notmyhangovernotmyhangovernotmyhangover –_ lurking around in the food coolers in WHSmith, nearly having a heart attack when a sandy-haired familiar face turned into the aisle and started browsing the baguettes.

 _Shit._ Louis straightened up from where he'd had his head fully encased in the refrigerator, and scoped out the area. Where could he hide? Did he even have time to hide? _Oh, shiiiiit –_

"Lou!"

Every fibre in Louis' being groaned as he turned around, plastered a big fake smile to his face, and drawled, "Patrick!"

"Jesus! How are you? I haven't seen you for-" _one year eight months and, oh, probably about six days,_ "-well, too bloody long! How are you?"

"Oh, you know," Louis said, starting to nonchalantly lean on some cheese biscuits before the entire display started to shift and he hastily took his arm away. "Good. All right. No, wait, fabulous. Fabulous!" he said, face aching from how hard he was smiling. _God fucking damn it. Of all the luck it the world...it would be Paddy._ “Just off somewhere massively exotic.”

“Where’s that then?”

Louis tried not to cringe at the completely sincere question. “Er, Thailand.”

"Hey," Paddy said, his freckles and stupidly tanned skin getting dangerously close, so close Louis nearly took a step back, "you're not here for Zayn's stag, are you?"

One minute ago, Louis would have said that running into his ridiculously attractive, Australia-Irish surfer ex-boyfriend would be the worst thing to happen to him today. As of five seconds ago, however, the stakes had been depressingly raised.

"Well..." Louis said, dragging the word on for as long as possible to avoid the imminent situation, "...yes."

"Brilliant!" Paddy said, face cracking open in a grin. "So are we!"

 _We?_ Louis mouthed, not even having time to come up with several terrible possibilities for such an innocuous sounding word – _we_! – before a tall, dark, handsome man rounded the corner, heading straight for Paddy. Paddy, Louis' ex. Paddy, the bastarding love of Louis' life since he was eighteen years old. _Paddy._

"Was wondering where you'd got to," Handsome Face said, sidling up next to Paddy. An internal choir of _no no no no NO no no no_ echoed around Louis' head as Paddy smiled at him, handing him a cheese baguette.

"Lou, this is my boyfriend, Eric. Eric, Louis. We went to uni together."

 _We went to uni together._ Not 'we dated for three and a half years'. Not 'you once said you'd marry me'. _We went to uni together._

"Excuse me," Louis said weakly, already turning to run out of the shop, "but I think I'm going to be sick."

 

 

"Did you not know?"

"Did I not – _Liam_!" Louis said, punching him on the arm. "Do you think I regularly seek updates on Paddy's exciting intercontinental life? Because that's obviously such a great thing for me, a teacher in a shitey Yorkshire school, to want to do with my time?"

"I was just saying, like, Facebook exists," Liam muttered, rubbing his arm, as they inched forward in the queue for boarding.

Zayn was suspiciously quiet, so Louis turned on him.

"You _invited him_?"

"What was I supposed to do?" he said gingerly. "We went to uni together!"

Not that bloody excuse again. "He broke my heart, Zayn!"

"Well," Niall said, munching on a stomach-turningly fragrant lime and coriander samosa, "he's still our mate, you know."

Louis glowered at him. " _What._ "

"Maybe this isn't the best time-" Zayn began cautiously.

"No, now is a great time," Louis demanded, the pressure behind his eyes increasing the further away he got from alcohol and the closer he approached the precipice of his monster hangover. "Your _mate?_ It's been three years!"

"Well, yes, and we thought you'd understand eventually," Zayn said, edging away from Louis and nearly backing into an old woman behind him. "You know, we were all so close at uni, especially Paddy and Niall-"

"Yeah, we had to stick together when we were surrounded by all you Poms-"

"You're not Australian, Niall, stop saying things like that," Louis snapped, voice slightly shrill. "And were none of you going to tell me he was coming? And bringing _Eric_ too?"

"We thought you might not come if we did," Liam said timidly. There was now a small semicircle of empty space around Louis. He was _radiating_ fury. "And we want you to be here, Louis! You're one of our best mates-"

"Eric!" Louis repeated, now definitely shrill. "New boyfriend! Eric!"

"All right, Lou, I think you should just calm down," Zayn said, carefully reaching out to wrap an arm around his shoulders. "He asked if he could come, what was I supposed to say?"

"No! _Obviously_!"

"You're really still not over him?"

Louis closed his eyes, tipping his face into Zayn's neck. "I don't know," he mumbled pitifully.

"It'll be all right," Liam said, patting his arm now he was safe from danger. "We'll devise some sort of system, keep you apart at all times-"

"It won't be all right, Liam," Louis said, screwing his eyes shut so hard he could see starts. "I might have...done something stupid."

 

 

Zayn and Liam were still glaring at him. Louis buckled himself into his seat, pointedly elbowing them both as he got comfortable.

"Run through it just one more time," Zayn said slowly. "You accidentally told him-"

"That I have an incredibly gorgeous made-up boyfriend, yes, how hard was that to grasp the first two times?" Louis said sulkily, unwinding his headphones from where they were wrapped around his iPod. His stomach felt incredibly delicate and his head was pounding and he was very much _not_ drunk any longer and in fact hurtling into the canyon of his hangover.

"Why?" Liam said from his other side.

"Because I'm clearly happy with my life and the fact that Paddy has moved on and I haven't?" he said, sticking a headphone bud in his Liam-facing ear. "I threw up outside the shop and Paddy and Eric _insisted_ on making sure I was OK. I had to make up something to keep them from thinking I was _completely_ pathetic," he added miserably.

"Who's completely pathetic?" Danny said, hauling himself out of the seat behind them and leaning over Louis. Louis slid down as far as he could in the cramped economy class seats, and turned the volume up to full.

"Go away," he muttered.

"Try and look a bit more cheerful and a bit less single," Zayn muttered, nodding at the aisle. Paddy and Eric were making a beeline for them, Niall and his never ending samosa behind them.

"Oh, _god_ ," Louis groaned, grabbing the tiny pillow from under his seat and covering his face with it, before Liam wrenched it away. "Hiiii," he was forced to say, expression melting into one of sickly sweet happiness as the rest of their group passed.

"We're right at the back," Paddy said cheerfully, flourishing their tickets. "See you in Thailand! I'm looking forward to meeting this new man of yours."

"He is too," Louis chimed, before they disappeared and his face solidified into a scowl. Louis punched Liam when he started to shake with laughter. "It is not funny!"

"It is a bit funny," Danny said.

"Fuck off!"

Zayn gave him one of his signature Looks – namely, a Look which meant he'd caught onto something Louis had hoped he'd skilfully managed to hide. _Damn it._

"Why did he say he was looking forward to meeting him?" he said. Louis covered his face with the pillow again, and elbowed Liam when he tried to snatch it back again. "Louis? What did you say?"

He couldn't overcome the combined efforts of Danny, Liam and Zayn wresting the pillow off him, so stared carefully at the crash instructions as he said, "I told him we were meeting him in Thailand."

"You're _such_ a fucking idiot, oh my God," Danny cackled, before settling back in his seat as the air hostesses came round to check they were all buckled in.

"As in, you've just bought yourself a mail order husband in Thailand or as in, you are meeting your aforementioned gorgeous made-up boyfriend in Thailand to excuse why we're not travelling with him?" Zayn said.

"The second one," Louis said dejectedly. "I don't s'pose any of you fancy being my boyfriend for a week?"

"Piss off," Zayn said, folding his arms and closing his eyes. Louis swung his gaze to Liam, who shook his head and then held his hands up protectively in case Louis was about to punch him again. Louis did, but in the thigh, to punish him.

"Oh, forget it," he grumbled, sticking the other headphone bud in and settling in for the flight from hell.

 

 

Louis didn't know how, but they were in a bar.

The flight was a haze of hungover torture, screaming children and Liam and Zayn being decidedly unfriendly and unhelpful in general, although Zayn did spend most of it sleeping. He'd never got on well with overnight flights, and so arriving in Thailand at nine in the morning after having hardly slept at all he wasn't feeling too peachy.

And yet...they had still gone to the bar.

The hotel they'd booked in Bangkok was more of a hostel, because they were only spending one night there and planned to be out getting spectacularly drunk for most of it, but all Louis wanted to do once he got to his and Zayn's shared room was sleep. But no. No sleep for him.

Just more booze.

"Louis. Mate. Are you OK?"

Louis had been sitting with his head on the bar, hoping for a quick snooze amongst the pounding beats, but alas, of course it was Liam come to spoil it. He decided not to reply, and elbowed him in the crotch instead.

"Oi! Don't be a twat."

"You don't be a twat," Louis mumbled into the sticky plastic of the bartop.

"I hope you're not going to be in such a pissing sulk all week. Don't ruin this for Zayn-"

Louis raised his head, sensing an opportunity for attack. "Oh, _me_ don't ruin this for Zayn, eh? I don't suppose you going round like a lovestruck puppy that's just been kicked in the balls is going to put a dampner on things at all, is it?"

Liam, as usual, looked wounded. Louis wondered if he could hit him again without Liam actually trying to kill him this time.

"Not my fault that you keep kicking me, you bully."

"That is _not_ my point, Payno, and you know it."

Liam slapped his hand away when he went to tweak his nipple. "You're a dick, Louis. I'm actually trying really hard to make this fun for Zayn, OK? And you're all wrapped up in yourself, like usual. We like Paddy. You've got to get over him sometime. Just fucking grow up and tell Paddy how you feel if it's making you this miserable. Oh, no, I forgot," he added, with an unusual sharpness, "that would mean we all stopped paying attention to you."

"Liam!" Louis called out, watching Liam weave away through the crowds. "No, wait, Liam, that's not what it is! Li – oh, you bastard," he hissed, dunking his head on the table again. A hand tapped his shoulder. "I'm not talking to you, you twat."

"Oh," a voice who was decidedly not Liam replied. "Well, that's a shame, because I've brought you some water."

Louis waited to see if the fires of embarrassment were going to consume him – clearly not his lucky day – before slowly raising his head again to see a be-headscarfed stranger offering him a tall but grubby glass of water. Louis was so hungover he almost focussed more on the cool, cool water than how handsome the stranger was. Almost.

"I am so, so sorry-"

"It's OK. I've just been watching you and you seem like you needed something. Um. Not in a creepy way, that is. Just...in a concerned stranger sort of way."

"As long as that's not a concerned stranger who's about to rob or murder me, you're all right," Louis replied, gratefully taking the water. He gulped half of it down before adding, "There isn't drugs in this, is there?”

“Um, what?”

Louis stared at the water. It had tasted rather stoically plain. “Drugs. I've never drunk drugs before. Is that a thing over here?”

“I don't know what you're – there aren't any drugs in there. It's just, um. Water.”

Louis considered this. Then some more. Then he got thirsty again. “Well, thank you. I'm incredibly hungover."

"When did you start drinking?"

"About two days ago," Louis said, finishing the water. He caught the stranger's awkwardly horrified expression and said, "I'm not an alcoholic, well, I don't think I am, it's just we've only just arrived and I don't really know what the actual time is. I was hungover when I got on the plane. It's been a long day."

"Oh." The look of relief crossed his face like a bubble underwater. Louis belatedly realised he shouldn't have opened with the alcoholic thing. "I'll get you another drink. Of water, that is. Definitely no drugs.”

"Thank you." Louis watched him as he left, talking to the bartender in what looked like the native language – _curious_ – before coming back with two more glasses.

"Do you want to get a booth or something? It's loud here."

Louis noticed that he had a giant overstuffed rucksack at his feet, and then things suddenly clicked. The headscarf, the friendly approachability, only drinking the free water –

"You are trying to rob me, aren't you?"

To Louis' surprise, he just laughed. "Absolutely not! I promise."

"Hmm." Louis looked him up and down. He was very tanned, with curly dark hair that nearly came down to his shoulders. Tattoos peeked out under his shirtsleeves, his actual shirt unbuttoned almost to his bellybutton. _Funny,_ his subconscious thought, _it's almost as if he's the real life personification of the magical fake boyfriend that you don't have..._ "You _are_ a real person, aren't you?"

"One hundred per cent not a ghost."

Louis prodded his outstretched hand for verification. Well, it all checked out. He glanced at the dancefloor, where all his traitorous friends were having fun with Paddy and Eric, and held out his hand. "I'm Louis."

"Harry," the stranger said with a smile. A firm handshake. Warm hands, but not sweaty. Louis tried very hard to remain calm and not hallucinate. _No drugs. Sure._

He settled into the booth with Harry and his giant rucksack, which was indeed a little bit quieter, already halfway through his second glass of water.

"You sure you're all right?" Harry asked. Louis sighed.

"No, not really."

"I have a knack for these things," Harry said, folding his legs and patting the small square of fabric next to him. "Come on, budge up and tell Uncle Harry about your problems."

"That's slightly creepy," Louis said, but shuffled up anyway. Harry smelled nice, or nicer than this place, which wasn't exactly an achievement. "My ex is here. That's all. It's pissing me off that all my friends have abandoned me for him and his perfect new boyfriend."

"Ahhh," Harry said, resting his chin on his fist. Louis felt slightly like he was mocking him. "Hence the giant hangover?"

"Yep," Louis replied glumly, staring at his slightly cloudy water. "The perfect new boyfriend bit is the worst, I think."

"I diagnose," Harry said, leaning closer – a moment that was a little awkward considering how he was still leaning on his fist – and whispering, "a long course of _sex_ to cure this."

Louis stared at him, tried to decide if he was fucking with him, and instead just laughed.

"Just so you know," Harry said, leaning even closer, "I _am_ hitting on you right now."

"You're being a bit of a perv about it," Louis said, but he was still laughing and he didn't really mean it – Harry was cute, after all, and too young to be really lecherous. It had been a long time since a legitimately cute boy had hit on him. Even though this one was questionably over the age of eighteen.

"Oh, er, sorry," Harry said, straightening up before Louis crooked his finger and beckoned him forwards again.

"I was only joking," he said, breathing in a noseful of Harry's curls, which smelled like fresh flowers. "I'm hitting on you back."

"Oh. That's a relief," Harry said, or started to say, because Louis cut him off with a kiss. It wasn't the best, as kisses went – a little too forceful, too much teeth, poorly angled. Louis made the best of it, though, and soon they settled into a kind of rhythm, and then, much to Louis' surprise, Harry's hand was on his crotch.

He broke the kiss, widening his eyes, and Harry grinned at him. "What, never had a handjob in a bar before?" Louis' expression clearly gave away the answer. _Only in the toilets_. "We don't have to-"

"Oh, no, just...nothing, carry on," he finished lamely, finding Harry's lips again as his fingers worked on the button of his jeans. When they'd gone out last night, or the night before the flight, however long ago that was, he'd spent the whole night chatting up this gorgeous guy only to have him drool over Liam's muscles and abandon him after an hour of careful flirting. And now? He'd barely spoken three sentences to Harry, most of which about how hungover and/or jealous of his ex's boyfriend he was, and he was getting a handjob! Thailand was obviously a land of miracles.

"Shit," Louis breathed, pulling away from the kiss and glancing around the bar to see if anyone had noticed – they all seemed oblivious. He tried to inconspicuously finish his water, but he couldn't even get it to his mouth, eyes glazed over with how Harry's hand was working over him, pressure and friction just right. "Shit – you are – good at this-"

"Plenty of practice," Harry said, biting at his collarbone through his shirt, and then Louis was gripping his shoulder with his free hand, breath coming in staccato as his orgasm hit. He sat back against the booth, watching as Harry discreetly wiped his hand on a tissue, and was faintly annoyed at how long he'd lasted. _Way to betray me in front of a hot boy, body._

"Thanks," Louis replied, a little dazed, tucking himself back into his underwear and zipping up his flies. "I, uh, normally don't-"

"It's fine," he said brightly, reaching for his backpack. "I said I'd meet some friends somewhere, by the way, so I can't stay. I just thought, hey, he's cute. I'll regret it if I don't try."

"Oh, well, um." Louis racked his brain for words. The orgasm seemed to have emptied his mental filing cabinet labelled VOCABULARY (AGE 8+). "Thanks again?"

"Have a good trip," Harry said, with an unmistakable wink, wiping his hands one last time before shouldering his rucksack and heading off.

 

 

 

Louis groaned when he woke up. Was he ever going to feel _not_ hungover?

His room was stuffy and airless, and for some reason Niall and not Zayn was snoring next to him, stripped down to his boxers and with his arm thrown over Louis' chest. Louis clambered out from underneath him and stuck his head under the tap in the bathroom, drinking the slightly odd-tasting water until he felt slightly less like a dried-up prune. He then climbed into the horrible shower, shivering under the freezing cold spray for as long as he could stand before getting out and deciding to drip-dry on the balcony. He could do with getting a bit of a tan, anyway.

There was a man on the balcony.

"Oh, hello," Harry said calmly, looking up from his book. Louis wondered sluggishly what he was staring at before he remembered he was stark naked and dripping.

"Er, hello," he replied, cupping his dick in his hands even though it was about ten seconds too late to save his modesty. "Why are you on my balcony?"

"Your friend Niall invited me back. I think he was angling for a threesome, to be honest, but I think the way you kept hitting him in the balls put him off in the end."

"Didn't you give me a handjob last night?" Louis said slowly, brain still vainly searching for the events from last night and coming up with a blank after the three am ping-pong incident. Which, in retrospect, he would have rather not remembered.

"Well remembered," Harry said with a smile, going back to his book. "Do you remember asking me to be your boyfriend?"

"Oh, god," Louis groaned, shutting his eyes.

"You talked a lot about a man called Paddy, as well."

"I thought you left the bar!"

"I did," Harry said, and to Louis' slight disappointment when he opened his eyes he was still there, still reading his book, still clearly not an apparition. "Funnily enough, we met again at a different one. Niall was very interested. Your friends were kissing quite a lot."

"Friends kissing..." Louis repeated, brain starting to kick into gear. _Niall and Zayn? Again?_

"The handsome one and the puppy."

" _Zayn and Liam_ ," Louis growled. _Much worse._ Harry looked up at him again, closed the book around his thumb, and reached behind him for a pillow.

"Here, sit down. Or get dressed, I guess." Louis didn't miss the way Harry's eyes dragged down to his groin as he freed one hand to take the cushion. "Whatever you're comfortable with."

"You're strange, do you know that?"

"I'm not the one who came out onto a pool-facing balcony naked," Harry said. Louis, for the first time that morning, looked out over the balcony wall. Quite a lot of women were staring at him.

Oh, _god_.

 

 

He got dressed after that, and because Niall was loudly throwing up in the bathroom Harry suggested they go down to the pool for a drink. Louis ordered two Bloody Marys – even though Harry seemed the furthest thing from hungover – and they sat at a table under a large parasol.

"So, what are you doing here?" Louis asked, stirring the drink with his straw. "Just backpacking across the world?"

"Something like that," Harry said, pushing his sunglasses up his nose. He really was rather gorgeous. Without his hair tucked back behind a headscarf it was even longer, falling in his eyes and curling at his neck. "I normally pick a place and just see where my fancy takes me."

"Vey bohemian. I wish I'd had enough money to do it at your age."

“And what age is that?” Harry asked, lips curled up in amusement.

“Very young and student-ish, I imagine. Either way, a lot younger than me.”

"Why do you assume I'm younger than you?"

"Because I'm old and wise like that," Louis said, in an airy-fairy voice. Harry snorted, picking the celery out of his drink.

"You'd be surprised."

"I rarely am."

They smiled at each other, before Harry said, "You seemed quite surprised about your friends last night."

"Oh, Liam and Zayn?" Louis sighed, flicking his fringe out of his face. "We're meant to be on Zayn's stag do, you know. As in, he's getting married soon. To a person who isn't Liam. Or isn't male at all. In fact quite the opposite."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "I see."

"They've been like this forever. Liam's in love with him, and Zayn probably is too, if he ever let himself think about it. But no. It's just a drunken shag every now and then which I have to have Liam snotting on my shoulder for about six weeks afterwards." He looked up, and made a face when he saw Paddy and Eric crossing the side of the pool, hand in hand. He mashed his straw into his glass extra hard.

"Something the matter?"

"Them," Louis said, without thinking. Harry followed his gaze to where the Perfect Twosome were setting up camp on a pair of sun loungers.

"What's wrong with them?"

"It's my ex and his new boyfriend. Who I told you about last night. And who Zayn invited along to this weekend, and he _knew_ I'd be upset...sorry," he said, catching himself guiltily. "I don't always complain. Promise."

"That's pretty shit though," Harry said, which was very good of him, Louis decided. He didn't have to indulge him in his ludicrous enduring lust for his ex.

"He just makes me act really weird and shit. Like, I panicked so much that I told him I had a boyfriend too. Which I don't, and he's going to find that out very soon, and then what am I going to say? 'Sorry Pads, I'm just so stupidly not over you I lied to make you think I'm not pathetic, which of course you think I am now.' I'm such a twat."

"Why's he going to find out you don't have a boyfriend?" Harry said, taking his straw out of the drink at sucking at the end. "You can just pretend for this trip, right?"

"That would have been the logical thing to do," Louis said, sliding down in his seat and resting the glass on his chest. "But no, I told him this imaginary boyfriend was coming as well. So we could be a cute double-dating pair of absolutely-not-in-love-with-each-other-still exes. Oh, brilliant, and now he's seen us. Fucking _fantastic_." He slipped his expression into what he was now mentally dubbing his Fake Paddy smile, waving and mouthing _Hi_!

"Hey," Harry said, tapping him on the leg. Louis stopped looking at Paddy and turned to him. "I've got an idea."

Then Harry kissed him.

It was quick, mostly because it took Louis by surprise so much it nearly knocked him out of his seat. "What-" he began, but Harry shushed him, remaining very close to his face. _Very_ close. Louis' mouth was still open with shock when Harry quickly kissed him again, before leaning back

"Pretend boyfriend sorted," he said, grinning and catching the straw in his drink with his tongue.

"Are you sure?" Louis said, eyes flicking to Paddy and Eric, who were still watching them.

"Yeah, why not? I've got no plans, and this sounds like it could be fun. If you don't mind, of course."

"Of course I don't mind, it was my stupid idea! You're a lifesaver!" Louis glanced at Paddy once more before reaching out to catch Harry's chin between his thumb and forefinger, kissing him again. This one lingered a little more, and Louis could taste the peppermint from Harry's toothpaste under the taste of the Bloody Mary. "One thing though...we're leaving this afternoon for the full moon party. We're flying straight to Koh Phangan. We're only there for the rest of the week, but if you could find some way to get there..."

"I've always wanted to go to the islands," was all Harry said, smiling. "All right, deal. I'll get a ticket. Sounds like an adventure."

"Only if you're sure," Louis stressed, but Paddy and Eric were still watching, so he took Harry's hand in his own and squeezed, hoping that was an obvious enough handshake.

 

 

 

They spent the afternoon wandering around Bangkok and its markets, picking out things for Harry to send home to his mum and, after this guilty reminder, something for Louis' mum as well. He didn't have to be back at the hotel until four to check out, and to be honest Harry was good company – he spoke a little bit of Thai, enough to get around, and told Louis great stories about the weeks he'd already spent in the country, showing him photos of the temples in the north and the incredible scenery.

He also held Louis' hand a lot. This was interesting. He felt a lot like he was doing something wrong, and also kind of hoped they'd run into Paddy.

"You're still sure about this?" Louis asked, as they got back to the hotel. Harry had all his things with him in the rucksack, but Louis still needed to get his bag. Fortunately he hadn't had time to unpack anything since they'd arrived.

"Still sure," Harry said, with a sweet dimpled smile. "I wanted to go to Koh Phangan again anyway. One full moon party is never really enough." Louis hoped this wasn't sarcasm, and found he couldn't always tell when Harry was being funny, and whether this was a slight on his or Harry's sense of humour.

"Alright." He realised he was still holding Harry's hand, and awkwardly untwisted their fingers. _Why are you holding hands where no one can see you, dumbo?_ "I'll, er, see you in a bit then. At the airport, yeah?"

"Yeah." They hovered near each other for a second, before Harry pitched forward and kissed him on the cheek. Louis oddly felt like a blush was creeping up his neck, a little flustered by Harry's forwardness. He didn't _have_ to do this when Paddy wasn't around. He wondered if he should say something. "See you in a bit."

He scurried into the safety of the air-conditioned lobby – the only part of the hotel that had working air conditioning – and back up to his room. Zayn had replaced Niall, standing in front of the mirror and carefully spraying his hair.

"Fucking hell, bro," Louis said, nearly choking as he walked into the room. "Are you trying to suffocate yourself?"

"I'm trying to get my hair sorted, but if it kills you in the meanwhile I won't mind," he said, dodging out of Louis' punching range. Louis slumped backwards on the bed, staring at the inactive fan above him. "Where have you been today?"

"Out with my boyfriend," he said, quite sincerely. Zayn snorted.

"All right, pull the other one, mate. Where'd you go?"

"No, honestly," Louis said, starting to grin. "I found a boyfriend. A fake boyfriend. What are the fucking chances, eh?"

Zayn stopped hairspraying and turned to stare at him. " _What_?"

"Mm hm," Louis replied happily, linking his fingers and resting them on his stomach. He didn't see the can of hairspray until it hit him in the chest. "OW, what the _fuck_?"

"You shiteing idiot! What if you'd got robbed? Or got – messed with? Or kidnapped? You've told a _stranger_ he can come along on our trip-"

"God, Zayn, calm down will you!" He sat up, throwing the can of hairspray on the floor and gingerly rubbing his chest. "He's all right. He's English, he was really nice to me. Also he gave me a handjob in the bar last night, which was definitely a check against his name."

"Oh, Louis," was all Zayn said, shaking his head. Louis pushed his hair out of his face, frowning.

"Oh, right, it's OK for you to judge me on who I get with, but for you it's just not on, is it? Mr oh-it's-not-gay-if-the-lights-are-off-"

"That was _one time_!"

"Don't fuck Liam around!" Louis exclaimed. Zayn fell silent. "I'm serious, mate. You're making a commitment to Perrie. You made your choice. Liam _really_ almost got over you this time."

"You don't understand," Zayn said quietly.

"You're right, I don't bloody understand it at all, but you're two of me best mates and I refuse to let you get into the kind of mess I'm in with Paddy. All right? So keep it in your pants for the rest of the week and we'll just consider this a blip on the road."

"And your fake boyfriend? Do I get a say on that?"

"Only if he kills me, and then you can be high and mighty with my ghost for all eternity."

"Louis," Zayn said, with a disappointed look, as Louis got up off the bed and pulled Zayn into a one-armed hug. "Don't say that stuff."

"Well, you'd better make sure he doesn't murder me then, hadn't you?"

 

 

All things considered, Louis thought it went rather smoothly.

He briefed Danny and Ant in the taxi on the way to the airport, and had to rather hastily pull Liam and Niall aside before they got on the plane, but nobody made any fatal errors. Paddy was very nice to him, and although he asked how long they'd been together – perhaps unwisely, Harry kept his mouth shut and so Louis blurted out "Oh, maybe four, five months, something like that" –  Louis actually managed to keep everything ticking along quite smoothing. It wasn't until they'd landed in Koh Phangan and got to the new hotel – _much_ nicer than the previous one – that Louis realised he and Harry would be sharing a room.

"Well, we all get our own rooms here, what are you going to do, make him sleep on the veranda?" Liam said, as they queued to get their room keys.

"He slept on the balcony in Bangkok," Louis muttered in reply, glancing at Harry, who was laughing with Niall and Ant. It was a bit disconcerting how easily he'd slipped into the group, and honestly, Louis was feeling a bit left out. His afternoon with Harry had been so nice that it almost felt like it wasn't enough. He needed to spend more time with him. Alone.

So why was the bedroom thing bothering him?

"Have fuuuun," Zayn said, pressing the room key into Louis' palm with a grin on his face. After actually having met Harry, Zayn had turned from mother hen to annoying brother, obviously deeming Harry good enough to become part of the entourage and now just reverting back to his default mode of mocking Louis.

"Wow," Harry said, as they got to their room, "this is _really_ nice."

"It was expensive enough," Louis replied, dropping his suitcase as soon as he could and flopping down on the bed as Harry opened the doors onto the veranda. He was _exhausted._ And he still had to suffer through a group dinner tonight.

"It opens right out onto the beach," Harry said, clearly in awe. Louis craned his neck to see, the sun already low on the horizon and sprinkling gold onto the distant sea. He sat up straight, actually awed, and got up to join Harry on the veranda.

"Wow," he echoed, leaning on the wooden railing. Below them, a white-sanded beach stretched in between two tall cliff-faces. There were still a few people on the beach, but not as many as Louis might have expected. "I can't believe how beautiful it is here."

"It's one of my favourite places. Thailand, I mean," Harry said, their elbows brushing where they were both leaning on the railing. "I came here on my gap year and just stayed for months and months. I love it."

"Have you been here before? This island?"

"Yeah, for the full moon parrty. I guess that's in your plans?" Louis nodded. "I didn't explore much though, because that was right at the end of my first trip. I'd love to have a look around these islands. They're meant to be very beautiful."

"I hope Zayn likes it," Louis said, after a while.

"Why wouldn't he?"

"I'm not sure...I think he has other things on the brain."

"Liam?"

Louis smiled at how perceptive he was. "Yes. Dear Payno. Oh, I don't know what to do about them."

"Let them figure themselves out, I think. You can't fight other peoples battles for them."

"Oh, look at you, Mr Philosopher."

"I don't think that's philosophy, more like-"

"I can already sense this conversation is boring," Louis interrupted, but instead of hitting him like one of his other awful friends would do, Harry just smiled. "Shall we get ready? They'll want us for dinner soon. I think you might have to button up a few though-" he shook Harry's open shirt for demonstration "-or else this posh hotel's management might kick you out for being too minxy."

"You can never be too minxy," Harry murmured in Louis' ear, before giving his arse a slap. Louis didn't know whether to be offended or aroused, and settled on a confusing melange of both.

Dinner was a slightly strange affair; he and Harry ended up opposite Paddy and Eric – _of course –_ and so Louis' small talk gland was in overdrive, asking all sorts of boring and polite questions about Paddy's super duper job in sports advertising, and Eric's frankly snore-worthy job in corporate finance.

The only fun part was Harry, particularly after they'd had a few glasses of the very sweet coconut cocktail that Niall recommended. He kept touching Louis' knee under the table, and he had a great flair for stories, making up all sorts of things that he and Louis had supposedly got up to in their time together. This amused Louis greatly, and spurred him on to tell even more outlandish stories, the last of which involved them chasing off an alligator in Skegness while halting a bank robbery. Luckily, everyone else seemed too drunk to do anything more than laugh, and when Harry started to rub his hand over Louis' crotch during dessert the stories lost their appeal somewhat. So much so, in fact, that Louis was already more than half-hard by the time the plates were being cleared away, and as soon as the last one had been cleared he was out of his seat and dragging Harry towards their room.

"You," Louis panted, pushing Harry up against the door to their room and kissing him as he fumbled with the lock, "are the _definition_ of too minxy."

"Nah, that can't be right," Harry said with a grin, eyes sparkling, as Louis finally got the door unlocked and grabbed him again, wrapping his arms around his neck before leaping up so his legs were around his waist too. Harry walked them back to the bed, kissing him thoroughly, before dropping him gently and climbing on top of him; he kept kissing him as he pushed his t-shirt up his chest, only breaking it to pull it over Louis' head. Louis undid the few buttons left on Harry's shirt and pushed that off, too, before grabbing his bum and pulling him close so they could rut together. They kissed sloppily, all teeth, cocks still clothed, before Harry pulled off and started to move down Louis' chest. He sunk into the bed, immediately going pliable at the prospect of a blowjob.

"This OK?" Harry mumbled against the skin of his stomach. Louis rubbed his shoulders, shifting his hips up so his erection jabbed Harry in the chest.

"Yeah, yeah, please," he breathed, closing his eyes as Harry pulled down his shorts and got his cock out.

It was the best blowjob he'd had in ages – although, technically, it was the _only_ blowjob he'd had in ages – and Harry was so eager for it, mouth sloppy as he worked over him with his mouth and his hand. Louis tightened his fingers in his hair, gasping out little moans as Harry took away his hand and eased his cock all the way into the back of his throat, not once gagging, just slowly pulling off and sinking back down. Louis scratched at his scalp a little harder than he meant to, body sparking with pleasure as Harry used his free hand to fondle his balls, little finger just pressing against his hole as he started to come.

"How was that?” Harry mumbled, kissing the inside of his thigh before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Louis lay back, boneless, and stroked Harry's hair away from his face.

"Excellent. Top marks. Really, really good." He waited for Harry to come back up for a kiss, and made it a tender one; Harry leant their foreheads together as Louis worked a hand into his shorts, kissing him softly as he jerked him off. Harry came silently, breathing shakily into Louis' mouth, and was already half-asleep when Louis came back from the bathroom to clean him off.

"You've got come on your face," he murmured, wiping at Harry's chin with a flannel. Harry groaned, but didn't move, and so Louis left the flannel on the bedside table and settled down in his open arms.

"Caveman," Louis muttered, just before he fell asleep.

"Heard that," Harry breathed in his ear. Louis fell asleep grinning.

 

 

 

Harry was already awake when Louis woke up the next morning – it was bright and already very warm, though at least this place had air conditioning. He showered and went outside, where he – of _course_ – found Harry doing yoga in the sun. Louis sat down on the sun lounger and watched him for a little while, not wanting to disturb his zen, or whatever.

"Oh. Morning," Harry said finally, squinting at him and panting a little from exertion. Louis frowned.

"You look like you've just run a mile."

"It's very invigorating."

"It lookslike you're just doing funny poses to me."

"Well, that too," Harry said, with a smile, and sat down next to him, chest heaving. Their knees bumped. Louis found himself smiling.

"We're going to hire some bikes this afternoon, I think," Louis said, after a moment. "Apparently it's really nice to ride around the island. That's if anyone else is awake, of course."

"They should be, it's nearly twelve," Harry replied. Louis kept looking at where their bare knees touched. It was affecting him more than it should have been. "Bikes sound nice."

"Full moon party tomorrow, too."

"You've certainly got everything planned out."

"It all seems to be going so quickly already," Louis said thoughtfully. To his surprise, Harry ducked down to kiss his bare shoulder.

"Don't think about that. Just enjoy it."

"Yeah, you're right," Louis said, thinking about the damp spot where Harry had kissed him for a long time afterwards.

Liam and Zayn were the only ones up and about when Louis went to get lunch, so the four of them went to get the bikes by themselves, the midday heat oppressive as they walked. Louis reached for Harry's hand, just because he could, the two of them hanging back while Liam and Zayn went ahead.

"You think they're good for each other?" Harry asked, after a while. Louis considered it. Were they _good_ for each other? He remembered how they were during uni: Liam being Zayn's secret shag while he was dating Perrie. What exactly had changed since then, really? Zayn had been engaged to Perrie for approximately a billion years (well, three) before they even set a wedding date. Louis had always sort of thought that Liam would just move on, that Zayn would settle with Perrie, but it had never really quite gone to plan. There was always one night where Zayn would end up in Liam's bed again, and Louis was tired of consoling Liam and berating Zayn afterwards. _Something_ had to happen.

"I think they need to do something together to see if they will be good for each other? If you know what I mean," Louis said lamely.

"You think they need to give it a go?"

"Yeah, that. They've never been properly a couple. Liam's always been...on the side, for Zayn."

"That's shitty."

"Liam hasn't ever exactly told Zayn to piss off, though."

They stopped talking as Liam and Zayn approached the bike shop. The bikes were not exactly comfortable- or particularly stable-looking, but they handed over the money anyway, and by the time they'd freewheeled down the hill it wasn't so bad.

"Me and Zayn want to go check out the bays this way," Liam said, as they sped along the road. "Are you coming?"

"I heard there was a really good lookout a bit further on," Harry replied, from Louis' other side. "Amazing views of the island."

"Well, we're going to the bays. Want to meet up again at dinner?"

"Sure, whatever," Louis said, perhaps a bit too eager to get Harry to himself, and wasn't too disappointed when Zayn and Liam took the next forked turning and left.

What Harry had failed to mention was that this lookup was apparently on the top of a mountain, requiring Louis to cycle up what felt like a vertical trail. In the end he got off and walked, glaring at Harry, who was cycling exaggeratedly slowly to keep pace with him.

"Will you just get off and walk? You're just humiliating me now. Stop it. Get off. I'll push you down the canyon," Louis said, almost half-seriously. Harry laughed, but finally dismounted – a hollow victory, as they'd already reached the lookout. "Oh, soft-looking grass," Louis said, making a beeline for it and immediately lying down. Harry sat down next to him, and it was a few minutes before Louis actually sat up and saw the view. "Oh. Shit."

"Worth it, right?" Harry said, grinning.

"I'm not sure anything is worth that," Louis grumbled, but Harry was probably right. It was _spectacular._ He immediately took his phone out, switched it on and took a photo. "Hey," he said, after a moment's consideration. "How about one with us? To remember me by."

"A bit dramatic," Harry said, but shuffled over anyway. Louis reviewed the photo; cute but not schmaltzy, the scenery stealing the shot anyway. He felt an odd urge to print it out and stick it on a wall somewhere. "That's nice. Send me a copy?"

"I can't, I'm trying not to use my data," Louis said, switching it off. "When we're back, I promise."

"All right." Harry smiled at him, pouting for a kiss. Louis obliged, feeling a little ridiculous but mostly weirdly tingly. There was no need for it – there was nobody around, but he still wanted to kiss him. _You're a bloody fool,_ a voice somewhere in the back of his mind said. "Where is home, by the way? What do you do? I feel like these are things a boyfriend should know."

 _Fake boyfriend,_ the same voice prompted. "Oh, right. Erm. I live in Bradford, teach P.E. and drama at a secondary school."

"P.E. and drama?" Harry echoed. Louis nodded, shredding the grass by his foot.

"Yeah, it's mainly drama, but they always need P.E. staff. You know, got to split up the girls and boys, need more teachers. What about you?"

"I'm a master criminal on the run," Harry said, completely sincerely. Louis snorted.

"Of course."

"No? Not believable?"

"Not in the slightest, mate." Louis scoffed. "Harold the Magnificent, famed art thief, gives good head. I think it's the stuff of legends."

"I don't think I've got the right facial hair for an art thief, to be honest," Harry said thoughtfully, scratching his chin. "Always thought you needed a bit of a tache-and-goatee combo for that. Sophisticated."

"Who says you're not sophisticated, my sweet pea?" Louis said, and immediately regretted it. "Um. Anyway. What do you really do?"

"Oh." Harry looked a bit bashful, scratching at a birthmark on the back of his hand. "I'm actually a physiotherapist. I live in Surrey."

"Oooh, always thought you'd be posh. Where d'you work, a hospital or something?"

"Chelsea F.C.," he said quietly. "I go backpacking in the offseason while the players are on holiday." Louis looked at him blankly, and then laughed.

"Alright. I see how it is. And I teach the Beckham kids."

"Yeah, exactly." Harry smiled, touching his little finger to the side of Louis' knee. "Looking forward to the party tonight?"

"Yeah. Hopefully it'll be good fun." He reached out and touched Harry's little finger with his own. "You're fun, you know. Funny, as well."

"Funny-funny or, he's a bit weird funny?"

"Both," Louis said quietly, the pads of their fingers touching. "Thanks for playing my stupid game with me."

"It's been my pleasure," Harry replied. This time, Louis kissed him, and tried not to think about what it meant.

 

 

 

The full moon party was nothing like Louis had ever experienced. When he was at school, they used to have parties in fields – a great big speaker system, a load of alcohol nicked from their parents, and a night pissing in long grass and sleeping under the stars. But this – this was incredible. He'd never been to a real beach party before but the atmosphere was electric, the music was great and he thoroughly enjoyed painting fluorescent penises on Liam's bare back before they left. (Unfortunately, Zayn told him and he washed them off before they actually left).

"You look hot," Louis said, crowding Harry up against the wall as they prepared to leave. He was already quite drunk from the wine they'd had, and really just wanted to pull on Harry's curls and kiss his neck. Harry grinned, running his hands along Louis' sides.

"So do you. Scorching."

"I want," Louis said, getting up on his tiptoes and breathing in Harry's ear, "to suck you-"

"Oi, twatface, get off him and get out, we're going to be late!" Niall yelled. Louis just laughed, linking his hands with Harry's and following the others out.

"Hey," Paddy said, as they were leaving the hotel, tapping him on the shoulder. "I just wanted to say how happy I am for you, Lou. You two are so good for each other. I'm glad you're happy."

Louis didn't even have time to reply before he was jogging off to catch up with Eric. "What was that?" Harry asked, tugging at their joined hands.

"Oh, nothing," Louis said quietly, but the thought preyed on him for a while afterwards.

Louis' phone – which so far had spent the majority of its holiday turned off at the bottom of his bag to stop him from getting ridiculous data charges – was also being used tonight since he didn't have a real camera; it started with photos of all of them, but then somehow he and Harry got detached from the group, and it was just them. Photos of Harry kissing Louis' cheek, Louis kissing Harry, them pulling stupid faces...

"I'm going to run out of memory," Louis said, finally putting it away. "And battery. Shit, what if I drop it in the sea?"

"I'll make sure it doesn't go in the sea."

Harry was so close to him now, holding his wrist, smiling his stupid...smile just inches from his face. They'd drunk a _lot_ before they got here, anticipating the lack of cheap or available alcohol, and Louis was buzzing – buzzing from the drink and the place and from _Harry._ He was so lovely.

"You're so lovely," Louis shouted over the pounding of the music, cupping Harry's face in his hands. "I don't really know who you are but you're lovely."

"Styles," he shouted back. Louis frowned.

"What?"

"My name. I don't think I ever told you. I'm Harry Styles." He stuck out his free hand for Louis to shake. He laughed, and pulled him in to kiss his cheek instead, staying close as they swayed to the pounding music.

"I'm going to tag you in so many Facebook pictures when I get back."

"I don't have Facebook."

"You _don't_? Are you a robot?"

"No," Harry laughed into his neck, before pressing his mouth to his ear in a mock-whisper. "I'm actually incredibly famous."

"Oh, piss off."

"I'd rather kiss off. Kiss _you_ off."

"That makes no sense," Louis said, choking on his laughter, but kissed him anyway. And kept kissing him.

 

 

Louis woke up on the beach, with the cold sea tickling his toes and Harry curled around him.

"Hnngg," he mumbled, tasting gritty sand in his mouth and lifting his head. It was silent. The sun had risen, but not too long ago – the music had stopped, and most people had left. It was already bright, but there were a lot of sleeping bundles around him, and the tide was coming in. "Harry," he said, voice cracked from tiredness and shouting all night. "Harry, we've got to move, we're going to drown-"

Harry lifted his head from his shoulder, blinking awake. In the tenderness of the early morning, and Louis' delicately drunken state, he looked so beautiful – if he were the writing type Louis could have written sonnets about him, or at least tried to, the way his curls framed his face, the straight line of his nose, his gorgeous plush lips. He reached up to push some curls behind his ear and felt his heart constrict as Harry turned his head to brush his lips against his open palm.

"You look really beautiful," Louis whispered, fingers lingering against the side of his face.

"You too," Harry mumbled, and kissed the inside of his wrist. His pulse jumped, and they stared at each other for a few long seconds before the tide crept in a little more, soaking Louis' feet again.

"We'd better move," Louis murmured; they shifted to their feet, Harry's hand warm as he slipped it into his as they walked. It wasn't far back to their hotel, and the roads they walked along were silent, the asphalt tough against the soles of Louis' feet. They didn't exchange another word as they climbed into bed, Louis not saying anything as Harry tugged off his shirt and shorts until he was naked. Spooning up behind him, Louis linked his hands over Harry's chest, Louis' thoughts drifted as he tried to go back to sleep. Last night had been...surreal. The whole trip so far had been quite surreal, if he were honest. He'd started off being manically jealous of Paddy and Eric, and now he was here with a gorgeous boy in his bed, who was pretending to be his boyfriend but who Louis...well. How did he feel about him? He was almost too afraid to probe the tangled mess of his heartstrings.

The fact was, he'd met Paddy on the first night of uni, in a shitty student bar, and had basically been enamoured by him ever since. Louis _knew_ he fell hard and fast, it wasn't something he was a stranger to in his school days – although it hadn't been particularly fun when he'd not been able to do anything about it – but it had been so long since it had happened he'd forgotten how it felt. It was nearly seven years since he'd met Paddy. Christ, that was a long time. Seven years and he'd wasted them all on him.

And now there was Harry.

Louis brushed his nose over the soft skin of his back, kissed the dip of his spine and held his lips there, feeling Harry's chest rise and fall with his breathing. He was gorgeous, and funny, and kind, and clearly liked Louis enough to pretend to be his boyfriend, but he also carried his entire life in a rucksack and didn't plan more than twenty-four hours in advance. That might have been fine if Louis was eighteen again, but he was in his mid-twenties now and he'd always wanted to be a young dad. He wanted to be married, like Zayn, as much as he mocked him for it. He wanted someone safe.

He closed his eyes, too exhausted to think about it now, and feel asleep breathing Harry in.

 

 

He woke up again what felt like seconds later, sweat beading on his forehead and cock hot and heavy on his hip. His whole body was humming with the arousal of his already-forgotten dream, details slipping away like sand through an hourglass. Louis bit his lip, still half asleep as he slid his hand under the covers and over his cock, working over it slowly as he shifted his hips to get more comfortable. He brushed Harry as he moved, momentarily having forgotten he had a bed mate, but when he cranked an eye open Harry was awake too, blinking placidly at him.

He felt like saying something, like _that's creepy_ or _see anything you like,_ but in the end he just kept silent, free hand travelling under the covers until his fingers touched Harry's stomach. Trailing lower, he found what he'd been looking for; Harry's cock, already hard. Louis touched the tips of his finger to the slit, and Harry bit his lip, hips canting forwards.

Louis leaned over so he could brush their lips together; soft at first, but deeper when Harry moved closer, so close that Louis could wrap a leg around his hip and pull their bodies flush together. He slung his free arm around his shoulder, smiling against Harry's lips when his hands trailed lower and squeezed his arse, pulling them close enough that the bases of their cocks aligned. Louis took turns stroking his own cock, then Harry's, before Harry reached in between them and enclosed both in his giant hand; Louis pressed his forehead against Harry's, their lips touching as they gasped into each other's mouth. Harry bit down on Louis' lower lip, firm but gentle, speeding up his hand and squeezing his arsecheek with the other; it didn't take long before Louis felt his balls tighten and he was coming all over Harry's fist and his cock, Harry following a minute later.

He kept him close afterwards, kissing him lazily, not even mindful of morning breath. He loved the weight of Harry's tongue in his mouth, kept drawing it back in for more, rolling them over so Harry was under him and he could straddle his hips, push him into the bed.

Grabbing Harry's come-covered hand, Louis brought it between them and carefully fed his fingers between his stained red lips; he watched, enraptured, as Harry sucked and licked them clean, moving onto the palm when he was done with the digits. Louis threaded his fingers in Harry's curls, just watching his face afterwards; the rush of the sea outside was calming, only the sounds of the occasional hotel guest in the hallway breaking the silence.

"I want to stay here with you all day," Harry said, as Louis traced his thumbs over Harry's cheekbones. He watched Harry blink, eyelashes brushing Louis' thumbs, and nodded. That he could definitely do.

They spent the day sunbathing on the veranda; Louis stretched out on his front, his bathing shorts tucked up as high as they would go, his skin turning warm and golden. Harry sat next to him, mostly sleeping naked under a towel, but Louis kept their fingers interlocked, kept thinking about the feel of Harry's skin on his. He felt like there was an electric current running under his skin, hardwired to his cock, and couldn't stop thinking about Harry's fingers, and his mouth, about coming on his face and licking it off.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he'd forgotten they were leaving for Koh Tao that afternoon, their final destination. He was in the shower when Liam knocked on the door, and when he came out Liam and Harry were stretched out on the bed watching TV.

"Afternoon, Payno," Louis said, towelling off his hair. "What are you doing here?"

"Taxi's coming in half an hour, thought I'd remind you. Harry packed up your stuff though, so no worries."

"Oh." Louis dropped the towel, reaching for his underwear. "Cheers, Harold."

"Not a problem, Lewis."

When he was sufficiently dressed – shorts and a tank top – he clambered onto the bed, squeezing up next to Harry and tucking himself under his arm so that it was stretched over his chest. Even though he'd been out in the sun all day the warmth of Harry's body soaking into his was comforting, and he didn't want to move. He nuzzled his nose against Harry's chest, kissing just next to his nipple, feeling like his skin was bubbling up, trying to get him closer to Harry. He just wanted to touch him all the time. It was _unbearable._

When he looked up, Liam was giving him a very odd look.

"Louis," he said, after a long few minutes, "can we chat outside for a bit?"

"Can it wait?"

"Um...I'm not sure it can."

Annoyed but intrigued, Louis followed Liam out to the veranda. It was still bright, and the beach was full of tourists, boats and dingys dotting the waterline.

"What's the problem, Liam?"

"I think...this thing with Harry has got a bit out of hand."

"What do you mean, _out of hand_?"

"Well..." Liam trailed off, clearly hoping that the sentence would finish itself. "You know."

"I am not privilege to the knowledge, Liam, _no_."

"Don't you think you're...not really playing a game any more?"

Louis scowled and stared at the water. "What does it matter to you? You just need to not say a thing to Paddy-"

"No, it's not about that, it's like...are you giving him a chance? I know you haven't really dated anyone properly since him. Do you think that it's...like, the freedom of pretending means you're actually maybe falling for him? It's helping you get over Paddy a bit, maybe?"

Louis stared at him. He thought about punching him, but really, it was probably one of the most eloquent and well-thought out things ever to leave the mouth of Liam Payne.

"Hey," Harry called out to them, from the doorframe. "Niall just knocked, says the taxi's here."

"Be there in two ticks, Harold," Louis said, pointing a finger at Liam before adding, "This isn't over, Liam."

 

 

 

 

Their hotel in Koh Tao was less luxurious than the other island, but a little more rustic; they each had their own beach hut, small but cosy, and again right on the beach, although this one was a little more boulder-strewn and off the beaten track. It did have a hottub, though, which Louis and Harry discovered on their evening stroll around the premises, before finally making their way down the slightly hazardous path to the deserted beach.

"Wow," Harry said, as Louis reached up to help him down from the last boulder. They were barefoot in the soft sand, still warm from the day's heat. "This is incredible."

"I think Zayn's quite surprised," Louis said, as they made their way slowly down the beach. "I think he thought I'd have us partying every night. But I think it's also cool to see the sights."

"It's such a beautiful country, it's a waste just to spend it in Bangkok," Harry replied, twisting their fingers together. They hadn't eaten since lunchtime, and Louis had heard Niall say something about a beach barbecue, but for now he was happy just to walk along the beach with Harry.

"Hey," he said quietly, planting his feet so Harry had to stop with him.

"What?"

"Come here," he said, tugging at their entwined hands. Harry stepped forwards so that their toes were touching, anticipating the kiss as Louis curled his hand around his neck and pulled him in. It was a long kiss, and Louis didn't want it to end, just nipping at Harry's lips with his own, trying to keep him close. 

"I've had the best time with you," Harry said, voice low. Louis could feel his smile as he pressed a kiss to the side of his mouth.

"Yeah. Me too. I can't believe it's going to be over so soon."

"Yeah," Harry said quietly, pulling back and letting go of Louis' hand. He frowned at him.

"Everything OK?"

"Oh, yeah. Fine. Don't worry." Louis ducked his head as Harry cupped his cheek in his palm."I guess I'm just sad our little adventure is coming to an end."

 _It doesn't have to,_ Louis thought about saying, but somehow the words never lined up in his larynx; instead he followed Harry down to the shore, wriggling their toes in the gentle surf and watching the stars in the dusky sky.

"I don't know what the others are doing tomorrow," Harry said after a while, "but I really want to take one of those sailing boats out and explore the island. I met a guy in Chiang Mai who said it was just the best thing to do."

"Yeah," Louis said softly, reaching for his hand again and hooking their index fingers together. "It sounds great. I'd love to."

"Great." Louis smiled as Harry leaned over to press a kiss to the top of his head, trying not to think about what would happen when they left in two days.

 

 

As usual, Louis didn't wake up until late, and after a little snooping he discovered Harry was doing yoga on the deserted beach. He went for breakfast without him, assuming he'd already eaten, and found Zayn on his own looking quite miserable.

"Zayner?" he said, bringing over his granola and yoghurt. "You all right, mate?"

"No," he said, and it was the frankness of it that set warning bells off in Louis' mind. He sat down immediately.

"What's up?"

"I really don't know what to do," he said, still staring dejectedly at his cereal bowl. "About Liam. Or about Perrie."

"Marry them both and live in polyamorous heaven? I joke, I _joke_ ," he added hastily, as Zayn prepared the Death Glare. "What's wrong? I mean, this time in particular?"

"Liam told me that he's had enough. He wants to be with me."

"Is that different to all the other times that's happened?"

"Yes." Zayn looked pained. "He said if you can be happy with Harry, and move on from Paddy, he wants to as well. So no more us. _Ever._ "

Louis bit back all the sarcastic replies that were queuing in this throat and said, "Zayn. This has been a long time coming, mate."

"I love her," he said miserably, "and I love him. How is that fair? How am I meant to choose?"

"I don't know," Louis said honestly. "Life's funny that way."

"I just keep thinking, I never gave Liam a chance. And things happen out of chance all the time. Like you and him." He nodded at Harry, doing the downward dog on the beach. Louis sighed.

"That's different. That's just a...game."

"But you like him, don't you?" Zyan said. Louis didn't reply. "You like him a lot? Because he's the first guy you've actually given a chance since Paddy finished with you?"

"Zayn," Louis muttered. "That's not it."

"No. It isn't. You were just lucky, and you met someone you have chemistry with, and now you're trying to pretend like that's not happening just because you're still hanging onto the idea that Paddy will love you again. Don't, Louis. You're lucky. Things are falling into place for you."

He stopped talking, and they both watched as Harry came up from the beach and sat down next to Louis, kissing him on the cheek.

"Hello, darling. Are you eating that?" He didn't wait for a reply before starting to eat the yoghurt.

Louis ducked his head, avoiding Zayn's gaze.

 

 

"Are you sure you know how to sail?" Louis asked doubtfully, as the boat rocked on the calm waters. Harry smiled at him, fussing with – Louis didn't even know what to call all the bits at the top. "We're not going to drown or go missing and lead to an international manhunt, are we?"

"Relax," Harry said. "It's fine.”

“It doesn't feel fine. It _feels_ like we’re going to drown.”

“I will push you in if you don't stop complaining,” Harry said, sounding oddly serious, so Louis shut up and started on the boxed wine. It was quiet on the water, only a few fishing boats around, and Harry did manage to manoeuvre them around the water so they didn't drown. Louis had already had a fair bit of wine by the time they reached a tiny secluded bay, the whole place silent except for the rushing of the waves against the sand.

“Well,” Harry said, sitting down and wiping the sweat off his forehead, “I could do with a dip in the sea.”

Louis watched for a moment as he started to strip, before realising that would be required of him as well; he did wait for Harry to get completely naked before taking off his shirt, the boat rocking dangerously as he dived in. Louis followed shortly afterwards, the crystal clear water refreshing but not freezing cold – Harry swum up to him, pushing his hair out of his face as he bobbed up and down, treading water.

“Good idea?” he asked, grinning. Louis reached out to touch his sopping hair, tucking it behind his ear.

“Yes. I think so.”

They splashed around for a while until Louis felt like the wine was making him drowsy, and spent the rest of the afternoon dozing on the boat, hands loosely linked with Harry's. It wasn't until his stomach started growling that he realised they'd been out for hours, and the sun was starting to dip below the horizon.

“Look at it,” Harry said quietly, his hair dried in tight ringlets, sitting staring at the horizon. “I've never seen the sky so wide before.”

“It's gorgeous,” Louis said, sitting up and finishing his warm, sticky wine. “You're gorgeous,” he said, after a moments thought.

“Thanks.” Harry's smile was soft and bright as the sunset. “You too.”

“I'm going to miss you, you know,” he said, settling back with his head pressed to the side of Harry's thigh. “When we don't have to be pretend boyfriends any more.”

“What if Paddy asks about me?” Harry said. Louis didn't dare interpret his tone as hopeful, and instead laughed.

“He won't, mate. Paddy has too much else going on. He doesn't think about me any more.”

A slightly too long pause. “I'm sure that's not true.”

“It is,” Louis said sadly. He wondered if Paddy had spent even half as much time as he had thinking of him. He very much doubted it. “At least during this trip he noticed me.”

“Do you still love him?” Harry asked, voice a little tight. Louis didn't answer for a long time, longer enough that Harry got up, reaching for the sails. “We’d better get back you're flying home tomorrow.”

Louis’ heart sank a little when he remembered. _Oh yes. Home. Back to being the to-between for Zayn and Perrie and Liam._

“What about you?” He asked. “Are you leaving? Or are you returning to your life of crime?”

Harry smiled at him from behind the steering column. “The Louvre won't rob itself, will it?”

“No,” Louis laughed  but it felt a bit stilted, and when he fell asleep with Harry on his chest he dreamed of the sea and salty kisses and woke up in the middle of the night to the feeling of sand between his toes.

 

 

He shouldn't have been surprised to wake up and find Harry gone. He checked for a note, but there was nothing – not even an open shampoo bottle in the bathroom. He'd left.

 _So that's it then,_ he thought. _A little fun in the sun and now you're back to dreary old England and your dreary old life lusting after Paddy._

But did he really want that?

He'd told Harry that he wanted Paddy. And it hadn't been a lie – he probably would always want him, on some level. But he'd got so used to closing himself off to guys in the hope that Paddy would one day come round he'd never considered what might happen if Paddy never did. If Louis met someone better. If they weren't actually Made For Each Other.

He stayed in the shower until Niall started frantically knocking at his door to tell him to leave, a heavy weight of regret settling on his shoulders.

 

 

Louis stayed with Niall in London after they got back – he only had an empty flat to look forward to back home, and he didn't much fancy being around when Zayn told Perrie the not-so-happy news. Since Niall worked weird hours, Louis was alone a lot, and of course being alone led to him thinking, namely about Harry. It had been just over twenty-four hours since he'd last seen him, but he couldn't help feel like he missed him.

And he really wanted to know where Harry was.

True to his word, when he searched him on Facebook nothing came up. Same for Twitter. He even tried LinkedIn, but unsurprisingly there was nothing their either. Beginning to think he had been given a fake identity, Louis remembered what he'd said in Koh Phangan. _Chelsea F.C._

He googled 'harry styles chelsea'.

**_OTHER MANAGEMENT STAFF_ **

**_..._ **

**_Ivan Ortega_ ** **_  
_ ** _Sports therapist, who joined the club's staff in July 2011 following two years at Liverpool, and works with the first team squad._

**_Steven Hughes_ ** **_  
_ ** _Started as part time physio in academy in 2001 and has been full time since 2004. Previously worked with Charlton Athletic._

**_Harry Styles_ **

_Physiotherapist for the first team squad, at the club since 2015 after graduating from Loughborough University._

**_Billy McCulloch_ ** **_  
_ ** _Therapist. Joined the club in 2001 having previously worked in his home town of Swindon. Has also worked with the England and Scotland national teams._

**_..._ **

"You fucker," Louis whispered at the screen. "You fucker, you didn't lie. You _fucker_!"

He had no idea what he was going to do now.

 

 

Fortunately, fate had other ideas.

 

 

_Paddy O'Tailtigh: Off to London to see my Chelsea boys again! #adidas #allin #backtowork_ _Q_

Louis stared at the screen for several seconds, heart pounding.

He didn't love Paddy any more, at least. That he was sure of. Unfortunately, considering he now loved an unreachable entity by the name of Harry Styles it wasn't much of an improvement.

But Paddy. God bless gorgeous, wonderful Paddy for giving him a way in.

It didn't take him long to get his number from Niall – "Don't tell me you're going to announce your love for him _over the phone_ " – and he answered after only two rings.

"Hello, Paddy speaking."

"Pads! It's me. Lou."

"Oh, Lou, hey." He sounded a little wary – Louis didn't blame him – but this was a necessity. This had to be done. It was his _destiny._

"Right, I'm not gonna beat around the bush here, because we're both too intelligent for that, but basically, the thing is...the thing _is_ -"

"You want me to get a shirt signed for you, is that it?"

Louis gaped at the wall, phone slippery in his hand. "What? No! Why do you think that?"

"You wouldn't be the first person to ring me about that...anyway, you were saying?"

"Oh, right. Yeah. Um." Louis squinted at his nails. "Thing is, Pads, is there any way...is there any way I can come with youto Chelsea?"

There was a long silence. Louis wondered if he would hang up on him.

"Uh...why?"

"It's, um. Quite a long story. It's embarrassing, truth be told. But I'm desperate, Pads. I promise I'll never bother you again."

"All right," Paddy said grudgingly, Louis' heart beating a thousand times a minute. "Let's hear it, then."

Somehow, even after he'd heard it all, Paddy still said yes.

 

 

"You're mad," Paddy said, when they got in the car the next day. Louis was chewing his nails so much that he'd be surprised if he had any fingers left at the end of the day. He said nothing. "You really pretended to have a boyfriend the whole time? And then fell for him?"

"Yes, I'm aware of the irony, thanks," Louis said, tapping his foot on the floor. He stilled when he felt Paddy's hand on his leg.

"Listen. We're good, right?"

Louis thought about all the times he'd dwelt on Paddy over the last three years. All the times he'd called him in the middle of the night only to pretend like it had never happened the next day. All the times he'd been _convinced_ that somehow fate would twist them back together again.

He thought that _finally_ he was over him.

"Yeah. We're good, Pads." He held out his hand, and Paddy shook it. It felt...like closure, for once.

"Right. Well, all the best to you."

"Thank you for your moral support," Louis replied, before continuing to destroy his fingernails with his all-consuming nerves.

It was a painfully long drive to Chelsea's training ground in Surrey, during which Louis did consider throwing himself out of the car door into oncoming traffic several times when he thought about the possibility of this plan not working and him humiliating himself. Somehow, though, Paddy's presence, and his occasional encouraging smiles sent Louis' way made it more bearable. He could do it. He'd have to do it. He would have no other way.

"OK," Paddy said, when the car rolled to a halt. "You come in with me, I'll ask at reception for him, you wait behind while I go do my job, all right? I'll be back in a few hours. Best of luck."

"Thank you. Honestly," Louis said, mouth dry as the Sahara, as they climbed out of the car and approached the training complex. A heavy buzzing sound filled his mind as they walked into the reception, and he didn't even hear Paddy as he talked to the receptionist, or as he said goodbye and left to perform his weird marketing duties. He had no nails left to bite as he waited. He definitely contemplated making a bolt for it. But then –

"Shitting hell. Louis."

Louis couldn't do anything more than just smile weakly. Harry was – well, he was Harry in a Chelsea tracksuit, his hair in a tiny ponytail, a look of utter shock on his face.

"You weren't lying," he said. Harry just stared. "You actually work here! For Chelsea. I mean..." He trailed off, already regretting everything.

"Well, obviously." He was still staring. “Louis, _what_ are you doing here?”

“Coming to win your heart?” he said tentatively. There was more silence, and more staring. Louis felt time slow down, drag on with every second Harry was speechless and blank-faced.

"Please don't say you're turning me down," Louis said, after a further few seconds of this torture, before Harry walked up to him and kissed him.

"Oh, thank god," he mumbled, grabbing onto the front of his tracksuit top and pulling him in for another kiss. Harry leant their foreheads together, breathing hard, and said, "I never thought I'd see you again."

"Well you should have asked for my number, probably," Louis replied.

"Or you could have asked for mine." Harry kissed his cheek, pulling him into a hug. "Is it weird if I say I missed you so much?"

"No. I missed you too. I'm not in love with Paddy any more, by the way." Louis felt Harry laugh and hugged him tighter. "Felt like I should clarify that."

"I'm glad." There was a pause, and then Harry said, "I thought you were. That's why I left without giving you my number. I thought I was chasing after a guy who'd never want me back, and I've done that before and it hurts."

"I'm sorry," Louis said, stroking his back. "Did you never want to see me again?"

"I was going to turn up at Zayn's wedding and woo you back then," he said, finally letting go. Louis gave him a curious look.

"You mean you don't know?"

"Don't know what?" Harry looked genuinely puzzled.

"There is no wedding. Not right now, anyway. Zayn's finally with Liam. He decided on the plane. Very romantic." Louis grinned at Harry's shocked expression. "Ah, Harold. I think we probably need to go for dinner to discuss all this. And possibly drinks. And maybe even a long weekend in the Peak District."

"I think you're probably right, but first I have some footballer's thighs to massage. Can you wait til four?"

"I can wait all summer. Well, until I have to go back to Yorkshire and teach," Louis said. Harry bit his lip, frowning.

"Hmm. That's a problem."

"We can figure it out."

"Yeah." Louis grinned as Harry grabbed his hand, kissing the palm. "I think we can."

 

 


End file.
